New King James Version
Genesis 47:19
19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”
Genesis 47:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
- New International Version (NIV)Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate."
- New Living Translation (NLT)Why should we die before your very eyes? Buy us and our land in exchange for food; we offer our land and ourselves as slaves for Pharaoh. Just give us grain so we may live and not die, and so the land does not become empty and desolate.”
Context of Genesis 47:19
17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.” 20Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.
Read all of Genesis 47Genesis 47:19 word by word
לָ֧מָּה נָמ֣וּת לְעֵינֶ֗יךָ גַּם־אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ גַּ֣ם אַדְמָתֵ֔נוּ קְנֵֽה־אֹתָ֥נוּ וְאֶת־אַדְמָתֵ֖נוּ בַּלָּ֑חֶם וְנִֽהְיֶ֞ה אֲנַ֤חְנוּ וְאַדְמָתֵ֙נוּ֙ עֲבָדִ֣ים לְפַרְעֹ֔ה וְתֶן־זֶ֗רַע וְנִֽחְיֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א נָמ֔וּת וְהָאֲדָמָ֖ה לֹ֥א תֵשָֽׁם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Wherefore shall we dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
- before thine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: before(the eyes)H5869
- both we and our landאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- buyקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
- for breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · foodH3899
- will be servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
- unto Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- and giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seedH2233
- that we may liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
- be not desolateיָשַׁםyâsham · be desolateH3456
Cross-references for Genesis 47:19
- Nehemiah 5:2For there were those who said, “We, our sons, and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain, that we may eat and live.”
- Job 2:4So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
- Lamentations 1:11All her people sigh, They seek bread; They have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, For I am scorned.”
- Lamentations 5:6We have given our hand to the Egyptians And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
- Matthew 16:26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Philippians 3:8Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- Genesis 47:23Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
Commentaries on Genesis 47:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19Buy us and our land for bread - In times of famine in Hindostan, thousands of children have been sold to prevent their perishing. In the Burman empire the sale of whole families to discharge debts is very common - Ward's Customs.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-31Verses 1-31 - Jacob in Goshen 11. רעמסס ra‛mesês Rameses “son of the sun.” 31. מטה mı̂ṭṭāh “bed.” מטה maṭṭeh “staff.” Arrangements are now made for the settlement of Israel in Goshen. The administration of Joseph during the remaining years of the famine is then recorded. For the whole of this period his father and brothers are subject to him, as their political superior, according to the reading of his early dreams. We then approach to the death-bed…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-26Verses 13-26 Care being taken of Jacob and his family, which mercy was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is given of the saving the kingdom of Egypt from ruin. There was no bread, and the people were ready to die. See how we depend upon God's providence. All our wealth would not keep us from starving, if rain were withheld for two or three years. See how much we are at God's mercy, and let us keep ourselves always in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-26The Lord blessed Pharaoh because Pharaoh was blessing Abraham’s descendants (12:3). Through Joseph’s smart management in Egypt, the Lord saved the people from hunger and helped Pharaoh prosper. During the famine, Joseph sold food to the Egyptians, accepting money, livestock, and eventually land as payment. Then Pharaoh owned almost all of Egypt. Meanwhile, God gave Israel some of the best land in Egypt where they could live, work, and multiply.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-311. Joseph ... told Pharaoh, My father and my brethren--Joseph furnishes a beautiful example of a man who could bear equally well the extremes of prosperity and adversity. High as he was, he did not forget that he had a superior. Dearly as he loved his father and anxiously as he desired to provide for the whole family, he would not go into the arrangements he had planned for their stay in Goshen until he had obtained the sanction of his royal master.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 47:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 47
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries